How to File Federal Income Taxes Free Online
Every tax season, all the tax filing programmers come out of the woodwork to offer the best deals on their programs. One thing they neglect to mention is that most people don't have to pay for filing their federal taxes. There are ways, if you qualify, to file your federal taxes for free online.
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Instructions
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Navigate to the Internal Revenue Service website for a list of free tax filing programs. The biggest determinant of what service to use is how much income you make -- to qualify for free filing you much earn less than $58,000 a year.
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Review your W-2 to determine your gross annual income and make sure you qualify to file for free.
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Select one of the programs suggested depending on your qualifications. If you'd rather you can also use Free File Fillable Forms, available on the IRS website. It provides the electronic versions of federal tax forms. The site does not provide access to state tax forms.
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Provide all of the information the tax filing website you choose requests. You will have to supply the same information as you would on a paper 1040 form, but the software you select may be able to auto-fill some boxes based on other information you provide.
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Print out a copy of your tax information and download another copy to your computer. Although the software will submit your return electronically, a backup is useful for verification purposes.
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Tips & Warnings
You can expect to receive a refund within two weeks of your filing date if you file online.
Some programs will allow you to file your state taxes--but most state tax filings are not free--as well.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit tax forms image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com
